Hotel
A Hotel is a location that exists in each and every City in the game. It serves as a "Main Menu" of sorts, allowing you to save the game, load a game, quit, or skip time. In addition you can check for Rumors here. Description Each City in Covert Action has a Hotel that can be visited by Max. This is done by selecting the option "Your Hotel" from city's Locations Menu - it is always the second option on that menu, after the Airport. Going to the Hotel costs you no time off the game-clock (a "free action"). It takes you to a menu which is basically the "Main Menu" of the game. The options on the Hotel Menu are as follows: #Leave Hotel #Visit the Lounge #Sleep through case #Save Game #Load Game #Quit Use the arrow keys to scroll between these options as you would in any other menu. Note that you will NOT be asked to confirm if you select the "Quit" option! It'll kick you out of the game immediately! Leave Hotel Selecting the "Leave Hotel" option will put you back in the City Locations list. This again costs you no time off the game-clock, which means you can come and go from the Hotel whenever you want without wasting time. Visit the Lounge :Main article: Rumor When selecting this option, Max will try to collect a single Rumor from a shady-looking person sitting next to him at the Hotel's lounge. A Rumor is actually a piece of Clue, and just like any other such piece you collect through Wiretaps, Hacking and Photography, it is automatically added to the appropriate clue once it's collected. Listening for Rumors will only yield pieces to Clues that point to an agent residing in the same city as the Hotel you're in. If no such Clues exist, the action will yield no information. Note that a Rumor can generate a piece for a Clue that has not yet been discovered, again assuming the Clue points to an agent residing in the same City as the Hotel. Also note that if there are Red Herrings residing in this city, you might get a piece to a Red Herring Clue. Note: Visiting the Lounge costs you no time off the game-clock! Rumors are basically like free "hints". If you're running short on leads for your investigation, you can hop over to the hotel to ask for one. While it costs no time to check for rumors, it raises the Hideout Alert of groups within the city. Sleep Through Case When this option is selected, the game-clock starts flying forward at a high speed. To stop the clock from moving, press the "ENTER" key again. This is a way to pass time quickly. It's useful if you've already completed your Mission and just want to get it over with. It's also useful if you've given up on a case and just want to go on to the next one. Note that this is not a good option when waiting for something to happen, because it's VERY difficult to stop the clock once it starts. This can easily cause you to waste much more time than you were hoping to. Also note that there is no prompt for confirmation, so be careful not to select this option by mistake. Save Game When this option is selected, you'll be allowed to save your current game. The game first prompts you to ask which drive you wish to save the game on. Press a letter on your keyboard to change the drive letter. You can select any drive that is currently recognized by the game. If running Covert Action using DosBox, this corresponds to the drives you have mounted at the time. Once a drive is selected, you'll be shown a list of 4 Save Slots. If a Save Slot is already used, it'll show the details of that saved game, so that you can decide whether you wish to overwrite it. Empty slots are simply marked "(EMPTY)". Use the arrow keys to select the slot you wish to save into, and press "ENTER" to confirm. If the slot is already occupied, you'll be asked whether you wish to overwrite it. Note that the game saves the exact situation you're currently in, so you can pick up your investigation from the exact same spot and situation. Load Game When this option is selected, you'll be allowed to load a previous game. The game first prompts you to ask which drive you wish to save the game on. Press a letter on your keyboard to change the drive letter. You can select any drive that is currently recognized by the game. If running Covert Action using DosBox, this corresponds to the drives you have mounted at the time. Once a drive is selected, you'll be shown a list of 4 Save Slots. If a Save Slot is used, it'll show the details of that saved game, so that you can decide whether you wish to overwrite it. Empty slots are simply marked "(EMPTY)". Use the arrow keys to select the slot you wish to load your game from, and press "ENTER" to confirm. Your game will be restored to the same exact situation as when it was saved, with one exception: if you load a game that was originally saved at the very end of a Mission (I.E. during the CIA Chief de-briefing portion), loading it from the Hotel will put Max back in the same city he was when that mission ended. You'll then need to pass some time on the game-clock, and view the entire de-briefing again to get back to the spot where the game was actually saved. Note that this unexpected behavior may or may not have any adverse effect - it's basically a glitch and can be useful for such things as confronting a double agent inside the CIA. Quit Game When selected, this option shows a screen with an advertisement for "other Microprose Titles" (a common feature in many Microprose games from the early 90's). Once the screen is dismissed, you are thrown back to the DOS prompt unceremoniously. Do note that there is no confirmation prompt for this, so if you select the "Quit Game" option by mistake, there's no way to undo it. Also note that there is no way to go back to a menu where you can create a new character - quitting takes you entirely out of the game, rather than back to the title screen where the "Create New Character" option is. If you wish to create a new character after having already created one or loading a saved-game, the only way to do so is to quit and restart the game.